BB: NCAC: North Coast Athletic Conference

[pufin]

I have been thinking about ScotsFan's comments on Wooster's lack of fundamental baseball. He said that Wooster mashes its way through the NCAC, which is entirely true. But maybe that is exactly the time that the Scots can work on the fundamentals. As much as I might smile when I read about scores like the 14-1, 24-3, 12-1, 19-3 sweep of Hiram, I guess I'd rather see 4-1, 4-3, 2-1, and 6-3 game scores if it meant that the Scots played (nearly) error free and moved runners over rather than hit the long ball.

I actually saw parts of the 8-2, 26-1, 33-15, and 26-1 bludgeoning of Kenyon in 1986, and it was a lot of fun. But that team only had a 36-14 record and went 1-2 in the regionals, a pretty typical Wooster post-season result.

I made a snide comment about Marietta being "The Program" in Ohio college baseball earlier, but it wasn't completely meant in jest. Marietta has shown success year after year after year, and maybe Wooster has to take a look at how things are done down there. I would easily trade a few meaningless regular season wins each year if it meant that the Scots would be in Wisconsin (or wherever) in May.

Tim Pettorini has had success at Wooster. In fact, he has coached more than 1/2 of Wooster's all-time wins. But it seems like the Scots have not made the adjustments necessary to step up to the next level. What will it take for Pettorini and the Scots to be more like Marietta?

[oacfan]

He needs to realize this isnt the big leagues.  Its Division 3 baseball.  And when a kid messes up and pops up a bunt and its turned into a double play, like in regionals against MSJ, he cant take the bat and throw it across the dugout.  That is just rediculas and wont get your players attention.  If anything it will just make them a lot tighter and they wont play to their potential.  They will worry about making an error and having a bat thrown by their head

[ScotsFan]

One glaring statistic that should be an eye opener to Tim Pettorini and his staff is after starting the season 27-0, they sputtered to a pedestrian 15-7 finish.  Take away those 4 games pufin mentioned over Hiram and it's only an 11-7 finish.  And 4 of those 7 losses came at the most important time of the season as the Scots went 1-2 vs. OWU in the NCAC Championships following that up with a disappointing 2-2 finish in the Mideast Regional.  At least that 2-2 finish was an improvement over last years 0-fer at regionals.   As pufin said, I would gladly trade a couple of wins per season and that lofty ranking every year for a better performance from this team come tournament time.  I'm just getting tired of building up expectations every season only to see the Scots lay eggs once the postseason comes around. 

oacfan,

Did that bat throwing incident really happen?  That's totally unacceptable for a coach of a team to do that.  No wonder these guys are so tight at the plate!  They're all scared of what their coach is going to do to them if they don't produce?!  You can't scare your team into scoring runs or not making errors!

[Nonbiased Observer]

I saw enough of what Tim Pettorini's team did to understand his frustration.

Here were the things that struck me:
They can't bunt.
No one, with the possible exception of Sheldon Steiner, steps into an outside pitch and drives it the opposite way.

Bunting's basic baseball. Once you get to college baseball, you oughta be able to put one down

[Spence]

Maybe they were just never that good? I think someone told me that earlier in the year. Someone also told me that they were not very Woosterlike offensively and their top end pitching was their strength.

That's two years in a row someone's given me a really good heads up on them but I didn't listen and ended up getting fooled by their high ranking and gaudy record like everyone else.

[oacfan]

oacfan,

Did that bat throwing incident really happen?  That's totally unacceptable for a coach of a team to do that.  No wonder these guys are so tight at the plate!  They're all scared of what their coach is going to do to them if they don't produce?!  You can't scare your team into scoring runs or not making errors!

Yes i was embarassed to be sitting there watching the game

[old scot]

Repetition is the mother of education. Wooster needs to teach these fundamentals in the gym in Jan. & Feb. Get the bunt on the ground, bunt strikes, baserunner see the ball on the ground before breaking, seeing a line drive thru the infield before advancing. This is basic baseball that doesn't seem to get taught. Not enough reps in pre-season, should not even have to think about these situations, only react.
Attended the regional Wooster hosted at the College 2004, 2005? Talked to a fan who wanted to know the differences between Morgan and Pettorini. Well, with Woo in the field and a runner on first, the batter hit a pop-up in short center behind second base. Shortstop & 2nd basemen call the ball, SS calls off the 2nd basemen, but the second basemen never returns to second to cover the bag. That would never happen with Bobby Mo.

[ScotsFan]

I saw enough of what Tim Pettorini's team did to understand his frustration.

Here were the things that struck me:
They can't bunt.
No one, with the possible exception of Sheldon Steiner, steps into an outside pitch and drives it the opposite way.

Bunting's basic baseball. Once you get to college baseball, you oughta be able to put one down

To me, not being able to get the bunt down in key situations tells me this team doesn't spend enough time practicing getting the bunt down!  I think Wooster Booster brought it up in here after the NCAC championship that OWU was the best bunting team he had seen.  Were they just lucky?  No.  They probably practice their a$$es off at it!  Driving the ball to the opposite field is another thing learned by repetition! 

I don't know how often Pettorini and his staff work on the fundamentals with his teams because I'm not at the practices.  What I do know is that Wooster's lack of executing the fundamentals seems to be a developing pattern with Pettorini coached teams.  Even in Wooster's last trip to the CWS in '05, they pretty much slugged their way to Appleton.  Heck, if it wasn't for a Pat Christensen grand slam with 2 outs in the top of the 9th in the NCAC Championship game, Wooster probably doesn't even get a bid to the tournament that year!

All I'm saying is that if these Pettorini coached teams put the work into the fundamentals like the Mariettas and the Chapmans show how it's done, they surely don't show any signs of it when it counts?!   And the bottom line is, if Wooster isn't putting the time and effort into learning these things, Pettorini has no one to be frustrated at but himself!

[OWUBaseballRocks]

I have heard a rumor Durant has left OWU?  Does anybody know if this is true?

[kdoggy]

I heard Durant left with his wife, who got a bigtime job.  Also heard his replacement will be Cypret at Ohio State.  Heard OWU's building this new pressbox, etc. and the boys who are paying for everything down there are pushing for Cypret, who is a great coach at OSU.  I'll be anxious to see.

[Nonbiased Observer]

From what I understand, Durant isn't married and his girlfriend works in Kansas. I like the source on that info.

The rest of it could be true. No one I know seems to know.

[OWUBaseballRocks]

I have on best sources the actual info:

Durant left.  Not married yet, girlfriend was St. Louis.  Tyler Mott, previous OWU pitcher and standout player, and Marietta pitching coach, has accepted the head coach position. 

This is correct and current (as the fiancee is friends with Tyler Mott).

[Fred Redd]

Surprised to hear that Barry Craddock was let go at Denison. What's the deal? He seemed to be doing a pretty decent job there.

[woosterbooster]

The preseason baseball poll is out, and Wooster has been issued the target to wear on its back.  Number one, I don't know, but they certainly should have one of the best pitching staffs in DIII, with everybody back from last year's group.

Their schedule and roster have not yet been posted, although the Wooster website does mention that the Scots will open against Albion on March 9th in Port Charlotte, FL.

http://www.baseballnews.com/polls/divIII/currentpolldiviii.htm

[MC Pioneer Fan]

The stage is now set for early season showdown at Marietta, on March 26th between #1 Wooster, and #9 Marietta.

Marietta has all pitchers returning from last year, and also has CF Tony Piconke-
the leading hitter from last years team returns as well, but the Express must 3 infield starters.  Should be a great game- am looking forward to it a lot.

BTW- by looking for Wooster's schedule- has not yet been posted. Does anyone
know when it might be out?